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counties. The measure next goes to the full House.
• Fuel industry executives said they need to continue selling 85-octane fuel because they depend on refineries in Rocky Mountain states that produce the low-octane fuel.
• Western South Dakota gas stations would sometimes run out of fuel if they could not sell 85-octane fuel, said Dave Kulish, general manager of M.G. Oil Co., which is based in Rapid City.
• Kulish said about 25-35 percent of the fuel his company sells is 85-octane, but the warning label calling it sub-regular has cut sales by about 5 percent.
• "It was a hazard label. It was something people were scared of," Kulish said.
• He said the bill will allow pumps to label 85-octane fuel as regular unleaded in order to maintain contract requirements with suppliers on what goes on pumps.
• Kulish said 85-octane gasoline has been sold in western South Dakota for decades without causing problems with vehicle engines.
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53 senators urge approval of Keystone XL pipeline
MATTHEW DALY,Associated Press
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than half the Senate on Wednesday urged quick approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, ramping up pressure on President Barack Obama to move ahead with the project just days after he promised in his inaugural address to respond vigorously to the threat of climate change.
• A letter signed by 53 senators said Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman's approval of a revised route through his state puts the long-delayed project squarely in the president's hands.
• "We urge you to choose jobs, economic development and American energy security," the letter said, adding that the pipeline "has gone through the most exhaustive environmental scrutiny of any pipeline" in U.S. history. The $7 billion project would carry oil from Canada to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast.
• "There is no reason to deny or further delay this long-studied project," said the letter, which was initiated by Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., and signed by 44 Republicans and nine Democrats. Another Democrat, Jon Tester of Montana, supports the pipeline but did not sign the letter.
• At a news conference Wednesday, senators said the pipeline should be a key part of Obama's "all of the above" energy policy, in which he has expressed support for a range of energy sources from oil and natural gas to wind, solar and coal.
• The Obama administration has twice thwarted the 1,700-mile pipeline, which Cal (Continued on page 20)
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